On 21 August 2015, the Hudson Bay Project lost one of our most prolific and innovative young members.  Linda's PhD work centered on understanding how polar bears were responding to climate change and determining whether their responses would be sufficient to sustain them.  Insisting on a passive sampling approach that did not disturb the bears, Linda trained a Dutch Shepard (Quinoa) to find polar bear scat along the shores of Hudson Bay and on the more inland highlands adjacent to rivers and lakes in Wapusk National Park.  She found that polar bears are opportunistic and flexible foragers that have altered their diet to match currently available food.

After completing her doctorate, Linda remained a member of the Hudson Bay Project and oversaw our continuing bear work.  Links to her published work are included on our bear research page.

Contribute to the Linda J. Gormezano Memorial Fund

Rocky's tribute can be found here

The tribute and complete collection of her work can be found here.

A few  pictures of her and Quinoa in the field are below.